There is just something about the month of May that conjures up the image of a 3 ring circus! We are juggling so many plates, balancing our time and trying not to miss the smiles on the faces of the little ones! As you settle yourself onto that tiny little high wire, keep those rings floating gently in the air while you try to remember what edible foods their are in the fridge for dinner, when play practice will end, paper mache a Kinder-egg, bake 2 dozen cookies for the baseball team and struggle to get to work on time...just remember, I feel those butterfies in my stomach, too!


3rd grade is a glorious center ring. Like the proverbial Ringmaster it has been my pleasure to shine the light on your child's special talents. For some, the love of reading has gone through the roof. I cannot tear the books out of their little hands even for recess. Like witty clowns shot from a cannon...they soar through their books with big eyed wonderment!   Reading has literally become "The Greatest Show on Earth" in our little circus!

My math-letes swing through the patterns, geometry, division and multiplication with the "greatest of ease!" They master a new trick and beg for a "death defying" triple digit challenge without blinking twice! Afraid of danger lurking in a nefarious word problem! Hah! Surely you jest! They don't need a safety net because they have practiced and practiced and are ready to let the crowd cheer them on!



Like Sigfried and Roy these little "carnies" have tamed the wild squid and whispered the song of the salmon. They connect to the weather, trees, plants and insects! Nothing frightens these nature lovers...well, except maybe pollution and possibly brussel sprouts!



As you stand in the center of the 3 ring panda-monium, remember that this 3rd grade circus flies by in the blink of an eye! Can there really be only 27 days of 3rd grade left? Is this circus leaving town? Are these little ones nearing the time when they pack up their suitcases ...ready to move on to a new town and a new ringmaster? They are nearly "Not 3rd graders!"




Take a breath and just for a few minutes revel in the laughter, the giggles and the screams of delight coming from your yard or your kitchen or a distant bedroom! That joyful noise is the essence of 3rd grade. I hear it every hour of every day I share with these little ones. It is the music of my soul!



On this glorious Sunday, I hope you make yourself a promise to absorb every millisecond of your little ones 3rd grade year...like the circus, it is nearly time for the final act!





email me at mgillman@sanjuan.edu



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